Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1244022
2 maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 6 MAY 2020 NEWS TVM THURSDAY 6:30PM PM Robert Abela declares bank account deposits of €531,000 KARL AZZOPARDI MALTA'S prime minister Rob- ert Abela has declared bank ac- count deposits totalling over half a million euros. In parliamentary declarations tabled in April 2020, Abela, who was elected Labour Party leader in January 2020, declared a to- tal deposits in Bank of Valletta accounts of €531,000. Another €2,000 BNF account and less than €1,000 in Lombard were al- so declared Abela has also declared 806 shares in HSBC Malta, 2,100 units in Hili Properties unse- cured bonds, and 5,000 units in Malta government stock. The incomes of Abela, a law- yer whose legal firm has en- joyed a long-term retainer with the Planning Authority and also served as a legal consultant to the Cabinet, contrasted those of his predecessor Joseph Mus- cat, who declared his customary €65,000, his ministerial honorar- ium as former PM. Muscat, now a Labour back- bencher, now is among a small team of advisors being consulted to help draft Malta's post-COV- ID-19 economic recovery plan. Prime Minister Robert Abela's law firm, Abela Advocates, have renounced the Planning Author- ity's caseload. The law firm in- formed the PA that it terminated its legal services with the author- ity as from 13 January 2020, the day Abela was sworn in as Prime Minister. The lucrative contract had been assigned to Robert Abela's father, George Abela, when he was a partner with Ian Stafrace, who was later appointed to the PA as chief executive under a Nationalist administration. In 2017, Abela Advocates re- ceived €110,000 for legal servic- es offered to the Planning Au- thority. The law firm received €168,000 in 2016, €110,000 in 2015 and €88,000 in 2014 in re- tainers from the PA, awarded by direct order. It was originally contracted to the PA in 2001, to take over the bulk of legal work when the PA's own head of legal services Anthony De Gaetano, accused the authority of mishandling a domestic planning matter con- cerning his property, due to al- leged political influence. The PA paid the firm, then known as Ab- ela, Stafrace & Associates, a total of €1.23 million up until 2011 for handling its caseload. The firm was selected through an expres- sion of interest. The contract was extended in- to 2013, and then renewed again for the fee of €107,263 annually and €54.99 for each hour of "ad- ditional work". Former PM Joseph Muscat holds €65,000 in bank account deposits AN elderly man was seriously injured in a traffic accident on Tuesday in Paola. The accident took place at 7am in Pjaz- za Antione De Paule. Police said that the victim, an 88-year- old man was run over by an Opel Astra driven by a 37-year-old Romanian. The victim was taken to Mater Dei Hospital for further treatment where it was later certified he was suffering from serious injuries. A police investigation is ongoing. Elderly man seriously injured after being hit by car in Paola